Circuit controller



v W. ZABEL CIRCUIT CONTROLLER Original Filed Feb. 5, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR} mm M ATTORNEY.

May 19, 1925 w. ZABEL CIRCUIT CONTROLLER Original Filed Feb. 5, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY 3 5 5 t w h a t l w 1 w 0 3 6 I O O o w 7 m 1 L "W- 5, a W. g a w m m h B m F H, J A.0 i L Z C M a /5 H i 8 1 w U F II M 1 1 1 J 1 FA F .L G I l m m mlwvw. 7 1 J J E. 1 P L .w Q 0 May 19, 1925.

ATTORNEY Patented May 19, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM ZABEL, DECEASED, LATE or swIssvALE, PENNSYLVANIA, BY BERTHA ZABEL, EXEGUTRIX, or ALBANY, new YORK, AS-SIGNOR TO' THE UNION. swrrcn &

SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANI SYLVANIA.

A CORPORATION OF PENN- CIRCUIT oouTRoLLEn.

Original application filed February 3, 1920, Serial No. 356,112, Patent No. 1,484,048, dated February 19, i

1924. Divided and this application filed January 31, 1924. Serial No. 689,832.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that \VILLI'AM ZABEL, de-

ceased, formerly a citizen of the United, Swissvale, 1n the county.

invent certain new and useful Improvements in Circuit Controllers, of which the followin; is a specification.

His invention relates to circuit controllers which are designed for operation by railway switches, and the function of which is to govern other apparatus in accordance with the positions occupied by the switch.

The present application is a division of his co-pending application, Serial No. 356,- 112, filed Feb. 3, 1920, for circuit controllers, now Patent #1,41-84,048, granted February 19, 1924.

I will describe one form of circuit controller en'ibodying his invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a view showing a railway switch having one form of circuit controller 0 embodying his inventionapplied thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional view of the circuit controller C shown in Fig. 1. Fig. is a plan view of the circuit controller with the cover removed, certain parts being shown in section. Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view on the line IV-IV of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a view showing in front elevation the cam K of circuitcontroller C of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional View of the cam shown in F 5. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of the contacts to illustrate the contact operation.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of the several views.

Referring first to Fig.- 1, the reference character A designates a railway switch comprising as usual two fixed or stock rails 1 and 1*,and two movable rails or switch points 2andj2" connected by a tie rod 2 (lperatively connected with movablerails 2 is a circuit controller (I, the operating connection comprising a rod 3 and a crank 4. It will be seen that reciprocating movements of the rails 2 and 2 will cause oscillation ofthe crank at and so will cause operation of the parts connected to this crank within the circuit controller.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the circuit controller (.3 comprises a box 5 provided with a cover 5. One wall of the box 5 is provided with a bearing sleeve 6 in which a square shaft 7, provided with jour- IIttlS 25 and 25, is mounted to oscillate. The outer end of this shaft is attached to crank 4 by means of a bolt 50 passing through the split end of this crank as best shown in Fig. l, and the inner end carries a cam structure'K having a square hole as shown in Fig. 5. The cam structure is locked in place by a collar 26 attached to the shaft and by a nut 27 screwed on the threaded inner end of the shaft. It will be seen tl at the periphery of the cam is provided with certain irregularities of which more will be said hereinafter.

The wall of box 5 which carries the hearing sleeve 6 provided with two inwardly projecting lugs 9 and 9Pto which two contactoperating arms 10 and 10 are pivoted by means of pins 21 and21. The arms 10 and 10 are provided with rollers 11 and 11" respectively which co operate with the periphery of the cam K as hereinbefore set forth. The arms 10 and 10 are biased toward the cam by springs 12 and 12, re spcctively, so that the rollers 11 and 11: follow the periphery of the cam as the latter oscillates. 1

The free ends of the arms 10 and 10 actuate the electrical contacts which form part of the circuit controller. These contacts are carried by a block L1 of insulating material which is mounted transversely in the box 5.- As hereshown, four sets of contacts E, F, G and H are provided, each comprising two fixed contact springs 15 and 16, and a finger 1'7 movable into engagement with either" spring. The contacts are arranged for operation in pairs, the two contacts E and F being operated by arm 10, and the two contacts G and H being operated by arm 10. To accomplish this, the movable fingers 17 of contacts E and F are connected by a block 18 of insulating material which is provided with two vertically projecting pins 19, and these pins fit into slots 20 in the forked end of arm 10. The fingers 17 of contacts G and H are similarly connected by a block 18 having pins 19 which tit-into slots 20 in the forked end of arm 10. It follows that by swinging arm 10 on its pivot 21 thefingers 17 of contacts G and H will be swung from springs 15 to springs 16 and vice versa, and that contacts E and F are similarly actuated when arm 10 is swung on its pivot 21.

Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6 the cam K is provided with a substantially circular periphery having two spaced notches 13 and 13 therein. These notches are so disposed and so adjusted by means to be described hereinafter, and the parts of the circuit controller and the connection there-between and the switch A are so arranged that when the switch is in the extreme position in which it is shown in Fig. 1 and which I will term the normal position, notch 13 is opposite roller 11 so that arm is swung inwardly toward the center of the cam K, and that when the switch occupies its opposite extreme position which I will term the re-- verse position, cam K is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 5 till notch 13 is opposite roller 11 so that arm 10 is swung inwardly toward the center of the cam.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: lVith the switch in the normal position, arm 10 is in its inward position, so that contact 16-17 of each of the contact sets E and F is closed, and arm 10 occupies its outer position, so that contact 1617 of each of the contact sets G and H is closed. As soon as the switch A moves away from its normal position, arm 10 is swung outwardly, thereby opening contact 1617 of each contact set E and F and closing contact 15-17 of each of these sets. No further change occurs until the switch reaches its reverse position, whereupon arm 10 swings inwardly, thereby opening contact 1617 of each set G and H closing contact 15-17 of each of these sets. During a movement of the switch from reverse to normal position, contact sets G and H will be shifted as soon as the switch leaves the reverse position, and contact sets E and F will be shifted when the normal position of the switch is reached.

It will be seen from the foregoing that one set of contacts is operated when the cam is in one extreme position, and another set when the cam is in the other extreme position, and that the angular distance between these two cam positions must therefore beconstant. It follows that if the stroke of all switches were the same, the same cam adjustment could be used for all switches. As a. matter of fact. however, the throws of all switches are not alike, and so if the same cam is to be used for all installations means must be provided for adjusting the relative positions of notches 13 and 13 in order that the two sets of contacts shall be operated in the two extreme positions of the switch. In order to accomplish this the cam structure K is built in two sections as best shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The two. sections 28 and 28 are mounted on hubs 29 and 29, respectively, each hub having a square aperture to receive the squared end of shaft 7.

The periphery of each hub is circular, and the corresponding cam section is arranged to fit freely thereon, so that the angular po' sition of the cam'section on its hub can be varied. To facilitate the angular adjustment of each cam section and to lock it in adjusted position, the periphery of each hub is provided with a shoulder which lies against the side of the corresponding cain section, such shoulder being provided with a rack 30 or 30 around a portion of its circumference, and each cam section carries a small gear 31 or 31 which meshes with the rack on the corresponding hub. The gear 31 is mounted to rotate on a screw 32 which enters a threaded hole in cam section 28 and integral with this gear is a hexagonal head 33 by which the gear may be turned with a wrench. Gear 31 is mounted on cam section 28 in a similar manner.

To change the position of cam section. 28 on the hub 29, screw 32 is first loosened, and the cam section is then turned to the desired position by turning the gear 31. The cam section is then locked in adjusted position by tightening screw 32. The procedure in adjusting cam section 28 is the same as just described in connection with cam section 28.

The periphery of cam section 28 is provided with a notch 13, and the periphery of cam section 28 is provided with a similar notch 13, which notches co-act with rollers 11 and 11 as explained hereinbefore. To prevent the periphery of cam section 28 from interfering with the notch 13 in section 28, the periphery of section 28 is provided with a recess 34: extending from the point a in clockwisedirection to the point I). For a similar reason the periphery of cam section 28 is provided with a recess 34 which extends from point 0 in clockwise di rection to the point d. The depth of each of these recesses is at least equal to the depth of each notch 13 and 13, and the recess in each cam section is so located that for all adjustments of the cam in actual practice a portion of this recess will register with the notch 13 or 13 in the other cam section.

The procedure in applying a circuit controller having the cam shown in Figs. 8 and 9 to a railway switch such as that shown in Fig. 1, is as follows:

The circuit controller is first fixed in place in the roadbed beside the switch and the cam sections 28 and 28 are adjusted to approximately their proper relative positions. The rod 3 is then adjusted until its length is such that when switch point 2 is tightly closed against rail 1, the notch 13 registers with roller 11. The cam section 28 is then adjusted to such angular position that when the switch point 2 is tightly closed against the rail 1 the cam notch 13 registers with roller 11.

Although the cam shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is adjustable, yet when once adjusted so that the notches 13 and 13 register with rollers 11 and 11 in the extreme positions of the switch a very slight movement of the switch away from either extreme position will serve to raise one rolleror the other out of the corresponding notch and so to actuate one set of contacts or the other. To express this point in another way, if the circuit controller is so adjusted that one set of contacts is closed when the switch is in normal position, this set of contacts will be opened by a movement of the switch greater than one-eighth of an inch from normal position.

One important feature of his invention is that the circuit controller can be turned around end for end without necessitating any change within the controller itself. Of course, when the position of the controller is thus changed, the contacts which were previously closed when the switch is in normal position will be closed when the switch is in reverse position. This reversal of contact operation may be avoided by removing the cam structure L and swinging the same around through an angle of 180 angular degrees in the plane of the cam, whereupon the contact operation will be exactly the same as before the position of the controller was reversed.

Although only one form of circuit controller embodying his invention is herein shown and described, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit and scope of his invention.

Having thus described his invention, what is claimed is:

In a circuit controller for operation with a railway switch, a shaft operably connected with said switch, a hub rigidly secured to said shaft and provided with a rack on its periphery, a cam rotatable on said hub, a spindle on said cam, a gear on said spindle meshing with said rack, and means for locking said gear with respect to said spindle.

In testimony whereof I alfix my signature.

BERTHA ZABEL,

Ewecuzfm'w of William Zabcl, deceased. 

